Sun Yang absent as Chinese swimmers flex their muscles in the countdown to the Tokyo Olympics
- The three-time Olympic gold medallist is cleared to swim after a Swiss court overturned his eight-year doping ban but did not take part in Shijiazhuang
- Sun’s likely successor to lead the men’s team, Xu Jiayu, won the men’s 100m breaststroke as other big names also made a splash
Sun Yang was absent but his aura would have hung over the New Year Chinese National Swimming Challenge, which ended on Sunday with the country’s big names making a splash at the Shijiazhuang pool.
The 29-year-old Sun was last month cleared to swim again after Switzerland’s highest court sent his doping case back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which in February banned him for eight years for refusing to submit to a doping test in September 2018.
Two-time world champion Xu Jiayu, considered Sun’s successor as China’s top male swimmer, took gold in the 100m and 200m backstroke while women’s stars Wang Jianjiahe and Yang Junxuan also emerged triumphant.
Xu, the Rio 2016 silver medallist, clocked 53.35 seconds in the 100m backstroke to claim his first gold as the China team start their build up to the Tokyo Olympics. He was almost two seconds off his personal best of 51.86.
“I failed to work up my energy in the first 50 metres as I am trying to adapt to the race schedule and intensity of training before I got my energy back in the latter half,” Xu was quoted as saying by Xinhua after his 100m win.